Belleville Man Pleads Guilty to Multiple Offenses

U.S. Attorney’s Office
June 04, 2014

Southern District of Illinois(618) 628-3700

Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on June 4, 2014, Daris A. Quinn, a/k/a “DQ,” 26, Belleville, Illinois, pled guilty to possession of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct (child pornography), in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(4)(B); using a communication facility to facilitate a drug transaction, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 843(b); and making a false statement to a United States Postal Inspector, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001(a)(2). Quinn’s sentencing is scheduled for September 19, 2014, in East St. Louis, Illinois. He has been held without bond since his arrest on May 30, 2013.

Possession of child pornography carries a term of imprisonment of up to 10 years, a fine up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of not less than five years to life. Using a communication facility to facilitate a drug transaction is punishable by a term of imprisonment of not more than four years, a fine up to $250,000, or both and a term of supervised release of not more than three years. Making a false statement to a postal inspector is punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment, a fine up to $250,000, or both and a term of supervised release of not more than three years.

The child pornography offense was discovered on October 19, 2011, when Quinn’s cell phone was seized during the search of a residence where Quinn was present. A forensic examination of Quinn’s phone revealed videos made by Quinn, which depicted a minor performing oral sex on Quinn in both his car and inside the minor’s home. The search of Quinn’s phone also revealed that Quinn had sent text messages between August 19, 2011 and October 10, 2011, to facilitate the distribution of controlled substances between himself and an individual located in Oakland, California.

On February 26, 2013, Quinn made false statements to the United States Postal Inspection Service during its investigation of a package that had been alerted on by a narcotics-sniffing dog and that was later found to contain $23,650. Quinn, identifying himself by a false name, attempted to claim the package at the post office in Collinsville, Illinois. After initially lying about the contents of the package, Quinn told a postal inspector that he was sending the money to a friend so his friend could buy a car. He was then confronted with the search warrant and a photograph of the contents of the package and attempted to flee from postal inspectors.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “Resources.”

The case was investigated by the Collinsville Police Department, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Springfield Child Exploitation Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Angela Scott.